News from Travel Michigan's Director, George Zimmermann

If you want a reminder of how great a destination Michigan is, invite some top travel writers in and tour the state with them. We hosted more than 30 such writers from around the country in June, and their enthusiasm for what we can too easily take for granted was just such a reminder. Chris MacInnes at Crystal Mountain described the participants as "the best qualified group of travel writers to visit Crystal Mountain….ever!" More on this fam follows.

In May, for the second month in row, the travel section of michigan.org was the most popular state tourism web site in the country. Given we rank 17th in state tourism budget, we are particularly proud of this result.

On the national level, three members of the United States Senate have introduced legislation to fund America's first-ever significant and sustainable tourism promotion effort to attract visitors to the U.S. from around the world. The U.S. is the only major industrialized country without an international tourism marketing program, and the result has been a steadily declining market share for the U.S. from international visitors. You'll want to visit the proposed legislation link as well as the Discover America Partnership site for additional information on the international tourism marketing initiative.

In a related matter, the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) has a partnership agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce to create America's first official tourism web sites, initially for the Japanese, British, German, Canadian and Mexican markets. These Discover America sites will launch in early 2008, and I have been asked to serve as the chairman of an Industry Advisory Group for this initiative.

Finally, as Ken Hayward describes below, the Michigan Travel Commission is advancing the Michigan Tourism Strategic Plan from ideas to action. I encourage any industry member interested in one of the new standing committees to contact us. The plan was born out of broad-based industry participation, and its successful implementation will require that same kind of industry involvement. Together, we can accomplish great things for the tourism industry and the state of Michigan.

For more information, contact George Zimmermann at (517) 335-1879.

• Identify existing research and resources.
• Identify the types of data critical for tourism industry decision-making.
• Establish a data clearinghouse.
• Develop a communication strategy.
• Acquisition of funding to support these objectives.

• Review Travel Michigan research contracts to see what data is available to industry, and determine costs for information that is not available.
• Work cooperatively with Michigan State University regarding their future plans for tourism research.
• Determine what resources are available to the industry from the private sector.
• Develop a system to receive industry input.
• Develop a communication strategy to share this information.

Michigan Hosts National Fam Tour

Travel Michigan, in conjunction with local convention and visitors bureaus and the Michigan tourism industry, recently hosted more than thirty travel journalists as part of a familiarization (fam) tour, designed to build interest in and publicity about Michigan travel.

Thirty-two journalists from across the United States took part in the Michigan travel fam tour, June 9-16, 2007. The tour was designed to acquaint the participants with a variety of attractions, cultural institutions and recreational opportunities available in Michigan and to generate media coverage for the state in a wide variety of travel and lifestyle publications.

Throughout the week, journalists experienced outdoor recreation - salmon fishing on Lake Michigan, snorkeling in Lake Michigan, canoe and kayaking the Muskegon River and the AuSable River, cycling along the Lake Michigan shore from Ludington to Silver Lake, dune rides, hiking, scuba diving the wrecks at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, paddling the Pere Marquette River, Hartwick Pines State Park, birdwatching, Great Lakes Lighthouses and many of Michigan's world class golf courses, heritage tours at White Pine Village, Shrine of the Pines, Ziibiwing Cultural Center of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, as well as art galleries and studios, a sampling of local eateries and accommodations.

Journalists included staff and freelance writers representing AAA Home & Away Magazine, AAA Living, American Fitness Magazine, American Style Magazine, Canoe & Kayak Magazine, Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati Magazine, Cleveland Magazine, Columbus Dispatch, Fodor's Travel Guides, Golf Magazine, Indianapolis Star, Long Weekends Magazine, Northwest Airlines World Traveler, Scuba Diver Magazine, Shape Magazine, Toledo Blade, USA Today and Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

For more information, contact Kirsten Borgstrom at (517) 335-1871.

German Fam Update

Travel Michigan's efforts to lure international travel writers to the region have paid off in three ways this past month. In early June, two German travel media were escorted across Lake Michigan aboard the S.S. Badger. The writer/photographer team toured Ludington to Mackinac Island and a portion of the eastern U.P. In late June, another German travel writer toured Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Holland to Mackinac Island and Marquette in preparation for a re-launch of the Vista Point guide book for distribution in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. A Dutch language version will also be published in Belgium and the Netherlands. For several days in June, a freelance writer from India toured Detroit and the northern Lower Peninsula. His work, primarily featuring golf, is expected to be published in several magazines and on-line travel newsletters over the next several months.

These media familiarization tours, which benefit the entire tourism industry in Michigan, would not be possible without the assistance of our CVB's, attractions and hoteliers. We are doing our best to bring more writers, specifically from Germanic speaking countries and the U.K., to discover what "Pure Michigan" is all about. We will continue to do our best to share the exposure to all areas of the state as additional media tours are developed.

For more information, contact Dave Lorenz at (517) 335-0007.

michigan.org Web Site Updates — A Travel Perspective  

May 2007 web visits that were served Travel content at michigan.org have increased by nearly one percent over the same period last year. May 2007 web sessions totaled nearly 1,068,000 compared to over 1,062,000 for 2006. Year-to-date totals for 2007 have logged over 4.4 million web sessions. This compares to over 3.6 million web sessions through May 2006, an increase of 23 percent.

Total May 2007 clicks from michigan.org to Michigan travel industry web sites were over 537,000, an increase of nearly 18 percent over 2006. Total clicks for 2007 number over 1.8 million; this is an increase of over 25 percent over 2006. Clicks are defined as the number of times michigan.org web visitors clicked on a link and were transferred to a private sector web site.

According to the May 2007 rankings of Hitwise, an international company which tracks traffic to major web sites, for the second consecutive month, michigan.org was the #1 state tourism web site by market share.

For more information, please contact Gary Platte at (517) 335-1877.

michigan.org—Your Promotion Portal

The Travel Michigan web site is brimming with information about Michigan's many tourist events and package promotions. However, to be sure that your special package offer and/or travel event is listed in our database, we need you to send us the vital information. Travel Michigan is always happy to promote your tourism related deals and discounts/packages and events. To submit your events, complete our Event Survey and click “Submit.” To submit deals and discounts/packages, complete the Deals and Discount Survey. If a new tourism business would like to be listed in our database, go to "add your business" and fill out the form.

Travel Michigan would also like to remind tourism businesses and organizations to review their property descriptions on the Travel Michigan web site and to update descriptions as needed.

For more information regarding our database listing of deals and discounts/packages, contact Marilyn Schneider at (517) 241-2605, or Diane Wells at (517) 335-6909.

For more information regarding your property or events, contact Trudy Atwood at (800) 676-1743.

e-Marketing Insight 2007 Conference

Don't miss the e-Marketing Insight Conference-Travel and Tourism Trends, August 2 and 3, 2007, in Detroit.

For the fourth consecutive year, Gammet Interactive will present an innovative and affordable internet marketing educational opportunity designed specifically for the travel and tourism industry.

The 2007 conference will cover all aspects of online travel trends and Web 2.0 initiatives, including user-centric web design, search marketing, blogging, podcasting, e-mail marketing, rich media, mobile marketing, RSS, Wikis, social networks and user generated content. Additional conference information and accommodation details are available at the conference registration site.

For general information, contact Dave Serino at (734) 878-8800.

Video Advertising Opportunities at Michigan Welcome Centers

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in partnership with Farmington Hills-based Digital 10 Network, Inc. has equipped all Welcome Centers with multimedia broadcast systems just in time for the July 4th holiday weekend. This new multimedia network provides travelers with up-to-the-minute advisories as well as exciting details about destinations and attractions around the state.

This is a great opportunity for you to get your promotional message in front of nearly 9,000,000 annual Welcome Center visitors in a most cost effective manner. For more details about this opportunity, check out the Video Advertising Program (pdf 1.31mb), or contact Jim Lavender at (248) 755-4552, or Gene Brady at (248) 921-1295.

For additional general information, contact Ron Marabate at (517) 241-7200.

Hotel Occupancy in Michigan, May 2007 Report

The latest report from Smith Travel Research on the performance of the U.S. lodging industry shows occupancy in Michigan fell slightly in the month of May 2007. The May occupancy rate for Michigan of 53.0% was below the national average of 65.1%, and the lowest single month occupancy rate for all states.

That 53.0% occupancy rate for the month of May was 0.3% lower than the same month last year when its occupancy stood at 53.1%. U.S. occupancy at 65.1% was 0.7% higher than May of last year.

Year-to-date occupancy in Michigan stood at 49.4%, 1.8% lower than the same period last year and the 3rd lowest year-to-date occupancy for all states. Michigan's performance level has been slipping somewhat in the past few months showing its overall lowest ranking so far this year. Year-to-date occupancy in the U.S. stood at 61.6%, 0.6% lower than last year.

The Detroit area is performing somewhat better than Michigan as a whole. By the end of 2006, Detroit had ranked 25th among the 25 largest U.S. metro markets in occupancy. But for the fifth month of 2007, Detroit occupancy grew by 2.4%, though it is still tied for 24th with a year-to-date occupancy rate of 56.4%. This is a slight improvement by 0.4% over the same period last year. While U.S. occupancy was 61.6%, the top 25 markets (including Detroit) stood at 68.2%, 0.6% below May of 2006.

Source:  Smith Travel Research is based in Hendersonville, TN. They have collected monthly and daily operating data and reported on the state of the lodging industry for 20 years. Currently over 23,000 hotels in the U.S. participate in its monthly survey.

For more information, contact Dave Morris at (517) 373-0673.

• Pure Michigan Campaign Launches New Commercials
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• Travel Michigan Partnership Program Expands to Record $2 Million for Pure Michigan 2007 Summer/Fall Advertising Campaign
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